Kentucky eviction law

In a URLTA locality, if rent is unpaid when due and the tenant does not pay within seven days after your written notice of nonpayment and of your intention to end the lease if the rent is not paid within that period, you may end the lease. No section of KRS chapter 383 sets a nonpayment notice outside URLTA localities.

KRS 383.660(2) KRS chapter 383

• For a tenancy that began when a written lease ended, if the tenant fails to pay rent within 10 days after it is due, you may end that tenancy at any time without notice (URLTA localities). KRS 383.695(3)
• In a URLTA locality, the tenant receives a notice when it comes to the tenant's attention, or when it is delivered in hand or mailed by registered or certified mail to the place the tenant named for notices or, if none, the tenant's last known residence. KRS 383.560(3)

In a URLTA locality, for a material noncompliance with the lease or with the tenant's statutory maintenance duties or valid rules, give written notice naming the acts and omissions that are the breach and stating that the lease will end on a date at least 14 days after the tenant receives it. If the breach is not remedied within 15 days, the lease ends as the notice says; it does not end if a remediable breach is adequately remedied before the date named.

KRS 383.660(1) KRS 383.605 KRS 383.610

• If substantially the same act or omission recurs within six months, you may end the lease on at least 14 days' written notice naming the breach and the termination date. KRS 383.660(1)
• Outside URLTA localities no section of KRS chapter 383 sets a cure period; the lease governs. KRS chapter 383

An action to recover possession (forcible entry or detainer) is brought in the District Court of the county where the home is, under KRS 383.200 to 383.285. In a URLTA locality the District Court may also hear any claim arising from a transaction the URLTA governs. Use the county court's current forms and hearing instructions; local practice affects filing and enforcement.

KRS 383.210(1) KRS 383.540(1)

• KRS 383.290 has a separate law-enforcement petition route for qualifying unlawful occupants. It does not replace the tenant court process; see the conditions under unauthorized occupancy and ownership claims. KRS 383.290 See Unauthorized occupancy and ownership claims on the Kentucky page
• A protected tenant has a defense to an action for possession when the notice to vacate is substantially based on acts that violated the protective order or led to its issuance. KRS 383.300(3) See Protective orders and emergency calls on the Kentucky page
• If a tenant holds over after a lease term that expired on a certain day, without a contract to stay longer, you may recover possession without demand or notice by starting proceedings within 30 days after that day (90 days for a term of a year or more). If you start none by then, none are allowed until 60 days after it (one year for a term of a year or more), so waiting out a 31-day notice to vacate can carry you past the window. KRS 383.160
• The Kentucky Court of Justice forms directory lists the Forcible Detainer Complaint (AOC-216), notice of hearing (AOC-215), judgment (AOC-217), settlement agreement (AOC-218) and warrant for possession (AOC-220). Start with the current court versions and confirm the county's filing and service instructions. Prepare the lease, termination notice, service record, payment history and relevant photos for the scheduled hearing; a complaint or judgment is a different document from the warrant used to recover possession. Kentucky Court of Justice: eviction forms
• As a local example, Fayette District Court says a warrant for possession may be requested between the eighth and thirtieth day after the forcible detainer judgment. The request needs the court date, case number, defendant's name and property address, followed by an appointment with the sheriff or constable. Follow the actual order and county procedure, including any appeal or stay; this Fayette guidance is not a statewide promise of immediate removal. Fayette District Court: forcible detainer division

In a URLTA locality, if you willfully fail to supply heat, running water, hot water, electric, gas or another essential service, the tenant has the remedies described under tenant repair remedies. In a URLTA locality, KRS 383.655, the section on a tenant's remedies for unlawful ouster, exclusion or diminution of service, lets the tenant recover possession or end the lease, and recover up to three months' periodic rent and a reasonable attorney's fee. This page does not state when a removal or shutoff is unlawful: the review it relies on did not record that.

KRS 383.640 KRS 383.655

• Essential-service remedies: buy the service and deduct its cost, recover damages for reduced rental value, or get substitute housing without owing rent for that period. KRS 383.640 See Tenant repair remedies on the Kentucky page

In a URLTA locality, you may enter the home after the tenant has abandoned or surrendered it. The review this page relies on recorded no Kentucky rule on storing or disposing of belongings a tenant leaves behind, so this page states none.

KRS 383.615 KRS 383.670(2)

• What happens to the deposit when a tenant leaves is covered under returning the deposit. KRS 383.580(6), (7) See Returning the deposit on the Kentucky page

In a URLTA locality, you may not retaliate by raising rent, decreasing services, or bringing or threatening an action for possession because the tenant complained to a government agency about a building or housing code violation materially affecting health and safety, complained to you about your repair duties, or organized or joined a tenant union or similar group. A complaint within one year before the alleged retaliation creates a presumption that your conduct was retaliatory, unless the tenant complained after notice of a proposed rent increase or cut in services.

KRS 383.705

• A tenant who is retaliated against has the remedies of KRS 383.655 (recovery of possession or ending the lease, and up to three months' periodic rent and a reasonable attorney's fee) and a defense in a retaliatory action for possession. KRS 383.705 KRS 383.655
• You may still bring an action for possession if the code violation was caused primarily by lack of reasonable care by the tenant or someone in the household or on the premises with the tenant's consent, if the tenant is in default in rent, or if complying with the code requires alteration, remodeling or demolition that would effectively deprive the tenant of use of the home. KRS 383.705
• Statewide, you may not retaliate in renting because a person is a protected tenant under a qualifying protective order. KRS 383.300(3) See Protective orders and emergency calls on the Kentucky page